


How to escape nothing

by thatsabitgay



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew Minyard Has Feelings, Andrew Minyard Loves Neil Josten, Andrew finds him, Andrew takes him home, Boys Kissing, Everyone Loves Neil Josten, Holding Hands, Holiday, Home, Hurt Neil Josten, Like three or so months after The Kings Men finishes, Lost - Freeform, M/M, Neil Josten loves Andrew Minyard, Past Abuse, Post-Canon, Post-The Kings Men, Protective Andrew Minyard, Recovery, Soft Neil Josten, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Soft kissing, Storm - Freeform, Vacation, forest, neil runs, protective foxes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23482975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsabitgay/pseuds/thatsabitgay
Summary: Neil Josten is happy, and sometimes that's enough to overwhelm him...When everything gets to be too much, Neil does what he does best - he runs.(Neil gets lost when out running in a storm, but Andrew is ready to take him back home.)
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 240





	How to escape nothing

It hadn't been his brightest idea to go for a run alone in unknown territory - especially during a hurricane. Despite this, Neil had felt it was necessary in the moment.

Neil loved every member of his family – the foxes. He’d accepted that by now. Andrew, Matt, Dan, Allison, Nicky, Kevin, Renee and even Aaron held a place in his heart. Despite this, Neil had to admit, at least to himself, that sometimes it was too much.

It was as he was sitting on the sofa, in the cabin Allison had rented for one weekend, that the weight of everything once again began to push against his chest. Tiny needles, piercing like the end of a knife, pressing against his chest so firmly that breathing was enough to penetrate his skin.

Dan and Matt were in the kitchen behind him, giggling as they play-fought over the different ingredients while they cooked dinner. Nicky and Aaron were lay in different positions on the floor in front of him as they yelled at each other, gunshots blasting through the speakers of the television. Kevin was sat on the other sofa watching an exy game with headphones on, but he was ranting to himself. Allison and Renee were curled up on the armchair discussing whatever they were discussing whilst the former painted the latter’s nails. Andrew had gone upstairs; Neil hadn't followed because he knew that sometimes he just needed to be alone.

He began to wish he had.

As Nicky turned the volume up, Dan and Matt's giggles increased and Kevin’s tone grew in harshness, Neil wasn’t even present in his own mind as he stood up from the chair and sped to the front door, briefly hearing Dan call his name before he closed off the noise behind him. No one followed, probably expecting him to just stand on the veranda for some air. Which he did, for around ten seconds.

But then a shiver trickled down his spine – it could have been the cold, but the feeling was all too similar the one he felt whenever one of his predators were close. He’d been in the same place too long. He needed to run. So, he did.

Jumping over the fence of the veranda and rolling back to his feet, Neil’s legs pulled him one after the other towards the sketchy forest that lay ahead. The dense compact of trees barely slowed his sprint as he skipped over angular roots and dodged grasping branches.

He tried to listen for the sound of footsteps behind him, but if there were any then they were drowned out by the sound of his own quickened heartbeat and the jagged breathes that escaped him. A sickening pull of awareness tugged at his gut as he realised how out of practice he’d become. A year ago, he would have been silent as he ran, perfected over years of trying to throw off whoever was chasing him. Like this, he’d never survive.

His mind pulled back to that day in Baltimore. His eyes scanned the memory, counting the corpses and placing names to bodies. Had Romero been shot? If he was, had he been killed? Was there a possibility that he could have survived? He couldn’t remember now. How foolish of him to not be sure.

When his breathes drew shallow, he slowed to a stop to make sure his legs were still with him and had not been eroded away. Once he was certain he was okay and that no one was following him – just more paranoia in his mind – he calculated the area around him as he tried to remember how many turns, if any, that he’d taken.

The cool wind whipped around his body, but Neil refused to give in and call for help. In the past year, Neil Josten had survived dodging the press, his serial killer father and the Japanese Mafia. A hurricane was nothing. Defiantly, he tucked his phone deeper in his pocket before wrapping his arms further around his body. Neil paused as his fingers touched something disturbingly warm and pulled his hand in front of his face, peering through the darkness. A smudge of crimson blood stained his palm. He glanced at his shoulder to confirm that he’d just scraped it across something as he’d ran. Nothing to worry about; this was a poke of a blunt pencil compared to what Neil had bared through in the past.

Placing his hand back on his shoulder, he trusted his instincts and picked a direction.

Night had passed and dawn had begun to break through by the time Neil had navigated his way through the trees. The storm had let up, allowing the glow of the sun to peer down on him with it’s full concentration as he sat down by the road. He wasn’t back at the cabin yet but being in the open, free from the forest, was at least some kind of an accomplishment.

Neil couldn’t remember the last time he’d charged his phone, but when he finally pulled it out of his pocket it was still on sixty percent. It was possible that Andrew had charged it for him.

He flipped it open and pressed a couple of buttons to view his messages.

**_Dan –_ ** _Are you okay? / Where are you? / Neil?!_

**_Renee –_ ** _If you need help don’t hesitate to contact us. I hope you’re okay_ _:)_

**_Nicky –_ ** _NEIL WHERE ARE YOU / ANDREW IS GOING TO KILL YOU_

**_Kevin –_ ** _If you’re not back before our next practice I swear_

**_Matt –_ ** _Neil WHERE THE FUDGE HAVE YOU GONE BOI PLEASE BE ALIVE I LOVE YOU_

**_Andrew –_ ** _Answer your phone when I ring you_

He then pulled up his millions of missed calls, mostly from Andrew, before sending out a call himself.

It barely dialled out before Andrew answered. “Where?”

“I don’t know.” Neil answered. “I just came out the forest by a road. I don’t recognise it.”

“Stay.” Andrew hung up but Neil didn’t put the phone back in his pocket, worried about upsetting Andrew further. Instead, he checked the volume was back on before he placed it beside his leg and lay back in the grass.

He felt light-headed, past the point of exhaustion as his eyelids drooped down. The smarter half of his brain urged him to get up and do some stretches to remain awake and cautious, but his tired half won the battle before he could even think about doing so.

It shouldn’t have been possible for Neil to fall asleep here, out in the open in an unknown place. Just like when he fell asleep in the library shortly after being let out of the Raven’s Nest. He was being too careless. He was becoming weak.

It was a voice that brought him back to his senses. A familiar, stern voice – it stated his name as a fact.

“Andrew,” Neil muttered, before opening his eyes despite the light’s resistance. Andrew was stood over him, the sun behind his back like he was an angel; his fair hair was practically glowing.

“Yes, or no?” He asked.

“Yes.” Neil didn’t know what he was agreeing to, but it never seemed to matter when it came to Andrew.

Andrew crouched down by his right shoulder, pulling his short sleeve up slightly. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine.” Neil replied, earning a glare in return. “I’m exhausted more than anything,” He corrected.

Andrew nodded before gripping his uninjured arm by the wrist and pulling him into a sitting position. Then he hooked his other arm across the back of Neil’s shoulders, supporting him as he pulled him to his feet. They walked like that to the car, Neil doing his best to keep space between the rest of their bodies until Andrew tugged at him, letting him know it was okay to lean against him.

The passenger door was already open, so Andrew just manoeuvre Neil’s body and give him a small shove to get him into the car. Then, he slammed the door and walked to the other side. He didn’t drive once the keys were in the ignition.

“Well?” He questioned.

Neil shrugged. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. Are you okay?” He asked the rare question.

“I was just overwhelmed, I guess, so I went outside. Then I thought I was being followed so I ran.”

“Were you?”

“No. I was imagining it again.”

Andrew turned on the engine and pulled out, back onto the road. “Back to the cabin or home?”

Neil really wasn’t in the mind-state for a crowd. “What about our stuff?”

“It's in the back.”

Neil contemplated it for a few more minutes before leaning against the car window. “Home.”

When Neil awoke again, he was in the same position, although now with a stiff neck but clearer head. He wasn’t sure what had woken him up until he saw Andrew stood outside, watching him as he smoked. The window was open a crack so clearly it was the smell that brought him back.

Tiredly, Neil popped off his seatbelt before opening the door and getting out of the car. He collected their bags, both over his left shoulder, before walking over to Andrew. “Yes, or no?” He asked, taking the cigarette from Andrew’s fingers without actually touching him.

“Yes.” Andrew replied, moving one hand to pull Neil’s sleeve down an inch, covering the graze. Then his eyes met Neil’s once again. His hand fell lower on Neil’s arm as the other one hooked the back of his neck, his thumb moving from his pulse to the back of his jaw. Neil took the pause as his cue to touch Andrew back, and so held Andrew’s cheek with the arm Andrew wasn’t holding. Then he leant forward, Andrew meeting him halfway and – then they were kissing.

It was soft and gentle, unlike their others, as though Andrew was afraid that kissing too hard would trigger Neil into running off once again. Neil decided in that moment that he would never. As Andrew’s lips pushed significantly against Neil’s after a few seconds, his hand on Neil’s arm dropped again until it reached his hand; their fingers intertwined.

A crack of thunder drew their attention back to their surroundings and Neil frowned up at the sky. “We should go inside before the rain starts again.”

“Oh, is the junkie not going for a run in this shower?” Andrew’s voice drew monotone.

“I’m not a junkie.” Neil replied, before adding, “And I doubt I’ll do that ever again.”

Andrew rolled his eyes, dropping his hand from Neil’s neck. Neil went to do the same, but when he went to let go of Andrew’s hand, the other man held tighter, appearing disinterested as he locked his car before leading them to the building.

They’d never held hands before and Neil was unsure what this meant. Thinking about Andrew’s hand in his, thinking of each groove of his palm like he would the twists in a key, grounded him though. As Neil allowed himself to be led to the dorm, he couldn’t help but think that maybe this alone could be enough to stop him running again.

The thought scared him.

But he kind of loved it too.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first All For The Game fanfic and so this is just a short one to get me into the rhythm of writing these characters so I can write more! I hope you enjoyed it :) Kudos are appreciated :D
> 
> If you're a snowbaz fan, I have a fanfic (better than this lol) on here for that. Also, check out my Instagram - @snowbazstories for other AUs I've written (eg. Youtuber!Simon fic)


End file.
